Poll: Jeff Merkley Leads GOP Opponent By Double Digits In Oregon

Democratic Senator Jeff Merkley holds a 10-point lead over Republican challenger Monica Wehby in his bid for reelection in Oregon.

The first Rasmussen Reports statewide telephone survey of Likely Oregon Voters this year shows Merkley with 47% of the vote to Wehby’s 37%. Five percent (5%) prefer some other candidate in the race, while 11% are undecided.

The Oregon race is one that many pundits and Republicans have been pointing to as a potential surprise GOP pickup in the fall. Personally, I’ve always been skeptical of that assessment. Oregon’s last Republican Senator was Gordon Smith, who was defeated by Merkley in 2008, and Smith had held office since 1996, succeeding Mark Hatfield, who had held office for some 30 years. Both Smith and Hatfield fell into what could fairly be called the moderate Republican camp and, while on can make a fair case that Wehby, a pediatric neurosurgeon, falls into that camp as well when it comes to issues such as abortion, it’s also apparent that Oregon has drifted more steadily into the Democratic camp in the years since Republicans like Hatfield, Smith, and Bob Packwood were able to win office. If the GOP is going to make that seat competitive this year, it’s going to be because of a huge national wave in its favor. That could happen, but right now it doesn’t seem like that wave has washed up on Oregon’s shores just yet.

About Doug MataconisDoug holds a B.A. in Political Science from Rutgers University and J.D. from George Mason University School of Law. He joined the staff of OTB in May, 2010 and also writes at Below The Beltway.
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Oregon’s last Republican Senator was Gordon Smith, who was defeated by Merkley in 2008,

I might add that Smith only won because he became “moderate” six months before each election. He could have won again if not for the fact that an extreme right winger running on a third party ticket got 6% of the vote. In today’s world both Hatfield and Packwood would be Democrats.

She has said the federal government should regulate abortion, and that abortion is a personal decision between a woman and her family. Even that is not enough for a first class hypocrite like Rick Santorum, who said that Wehby cannot have it both ways, that her position was similar to Mario Cuomo’s position, “That’s Mario Cuomo. That’s the position Mario Cuomo had, which is indefensible.”

Yes, she is. An ex-boyfriend, who’s supporting her campaign, and an ex-husband with whom she had a nasty custody dispute. Both called the police on her. But the point is moot; she won’t win this election even if there had been no problem with the ex-husband or ex-boyfriend.

Jason Conger, who was Rick Santorum’s choice, actually condones abortion in cases of rape, incest, and to save the life of the mother. I’m pretty sure Santorum doesn’t recognize the rape and abortion exceptions, and I don’t think he’s entirely comfortable with saving the life of the mother, even though his own wife had an abortion for that reason.

Wehby also said she had no problem with gay marriage, which would have made her anathema to the Tea Party, which pretends to be about fiscal issues as a cover for their true agenda, which is social and cultural issues.-

I’m pretty sure Santorum doesn’t recognize the rape and abortion exceptions, and I don’t think he’s entirely comfortable with saving the life of the mother, even though his own wife had an abortion for that reason.

I think it’s amazing that Santorum can, with a straight face, campaign on the issue of anti-abortion at all, given that his wife had a late term abortion, which is in the eyes of extreme anti-abortion advocates the most egregiously wrong and immoral (if not criminal) procedure.

Wehby also said she had no problem with gay marriage, which would have made her anathema to the Tea Party, which pretends to be about fiscal issues as a cover for their true agenda, which is social and cultural issues.-

For the Tea Party, fiscal issues are social and cultural issues. They have a horror of giving money to the “undeserving” poor, and sharing scarce resources with outsiders generally. Whether the resources in question are artificially scarce doesn’t concern them. Paul Ryan puts the Good Cop face on these fears with his voluble concern about “hammocks” and “spiritual deprivation” and “dependency.” You can see the Bad Cop face…well, as soon as Bithead or Jenos shows up in this thread!

@al-Ameda: “I think it’s amazing that Santorum can, with a straight face, campaign on the issue of anti-abortion at all, given that his wife had a late term abortion, which is in the eyes of extreme anti-abortion advocates the most egregiously wrong and immoral (if not criminal) procedure.”

All the rules are for the little people. The Santorums of the world can do whatever they want — God loves them because they force other people to follow His rules…

But did any of their votes matter or did they just rubber stamp the choices of the establishment? Did those people turning out to vote (from home) participate in any competitive elections or just affirm the status quo?

But did any of their votes matter or did they just rubber stamp the choices of the establishment? Did those people turning out to vote (from home) participate in any competitive elections or just affirm the status quo?

As far as I can tell, Oregon doesn’t “do” status quo. There is a long tradition of Oregonians doing it the way they want to do it, in my lifetime this goes back to governor Tom McCall

@superdestroyer: And Superdestroyer moves the goal posts again. The problem is that people don’t vote in mid-term elections. Oh, they did vote? Well, then it must be that the ballot is rigged for a one-party election.

Admit it, Ron. You were dying for him to give his long-promised speech to the American people on why birth control isn’t okay for married Christian couples–which presumes, of course, that it’s okay for married Jewish, Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, Shinto, atheist, agnostic, etc. couples.

Surprised it’s even this close. Wehby appears to get intoxicated, gets involved in some disturbance and then a police report is filed. There are three police reports in recent years according to Politico and The Oregonian. – Strangely, this doctor makes house calls….but, as a stalker letting herself in uninvited. – When this candidate tells you she’s running on her record….she fails to mention these records are with the police. – When Monica Wehby won the primary, her friends had better lock up the liquor cabinet and monitor her celebration…